Palestinian Leadership Tramples Rights

Published: August 28, 1994

To the Editor:

As individuals with a long record of concern for Palestinian rights, we are dismayed by the recent actions of the Palestinian National Authority bearing on human rights and responsible government, practices at variance with the requirements of an open, democratic society and incompatible with pledges made to uphold international human rights standards.

Perhaps this is not surprising, given that the Israeli occupation still continues and that the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization has chosen for itself to become executor of policies and practices long associated with an oppressive occupation. The death of a Palestinian prisoner in Gaza after reported torture does not speak well for a government claiming to represent the interest of the Palestinian people.

Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, routinely ignored by Israel for more than 27 years, prohibits torture or ill treatment of detainees. We hope that the investigation of this incident by the Independent Palestinian Commission for the Protection of Citizens Rights will lead to the punishment of the perpetrators and contribute to ending all violations of human rights.

The reported dispatch of masked men to intimidate the editors of the daily newspaper An Nahar and the weekly Akhbar al Balad, the closure of these publications and banning of a noted journalist are contrary to the notion of free press and due process.

We urge an end to the denial of these rights and to the arbitrary style of government exemplified as well in the appointment and removal of officials without reference to established laws and administrative procedures, and in the lack of accountability for public funds management. Only if a system based on rational decision-making and the consent of the governed is developed now can Palestinians look forward to a measure of normalcy that leads to peace and progress. EDWARD W. SAID NASEER H. ARURI North Dartmouth, Mass., Aug. 22, 1994 The letter was signed by four other Palestinian-American academics.